War and persecution has led to a haemorrhaging of Christians from the Middle East, particularly from Syria and Iraq, it was reported in April.
Before 2011, Syrian Christians comprised around 8–10% of a 22 million population. 40–50% of those Christians have since left. Before 2003, there were approximately 1.5 million Christians in Iraq, but estimates now range from 200–500,000. In May the Daily Telegraph reported a spokesman saying: ‘Christians will all have left Iraq in five years.’
